1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surgical tables, and more particularly, to a surgical table having an articulated table top and an actuator system and controller for providing improved control in moving a patient to desired positions.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
Various surgical tables having articulated table tops have been developed to meet the growing demand of surgical tables which may be used for a plurality of different operations. Among the functions desirable for a surgical table are the ability to raise and lower the patient support surface, provide lateral tilting of the patient support surface to the left and right, provide a pivoting of a seat section independently of a back section, provide pivoting of a leg section independently of the seat section, movement of the patient support surface into the trendelenburg and reverse trendelenburg positions, and movement of the patient support surface into the flex and reflex positions.
Further, during many operations, the patient is reversed from the normal orientation on the table wherein the table is reconfigured with the head section moved to the foot end and mounted to the end of the leg section whereby the leg section supports the back of the patient and the back section supports the legs of the patient. In prior art tables, a controller is provided with a reverse button to accommodate the reverse position of the patient such that the direction of movement of the table will be reversed from the direction of movement provided in the normal mode of operation. For example, in the normal mode of operation, pushing the trendelenburg button will cause the table to move into a position with the head end down lower than the foot end, and in the reverse mode of operation, pushing the same button will cause the foot end of the table to be positioned lower than the head end whereby a patient oriented in the reverse position will have his or her head positioned downwardly. Similarly, pushing the reverse button on the prior art controller will cause the lateral tilt to be reversed wherein the left or right tilt of the patient will occur with reference to an operator standing adjacent to the head of the patient. Such a control system requires that the operator be aware of which end of the table is designated as the head end or foot end in order to properly determine whether the patient is in a normal or reverse position on the table. Thus, coordinating the controls for the table with the particular patient orientation requires an additional step on the part of the operator.
During certain surgical operations, it is desirable to move a portion of the patient wherein one section of the surgical table pivoted out of alignment with another adjacent section of the table is moved into a neutral position aligned parallel to the adjacent table section. For example, in an operation with the patient oriented in a reverse position with the back of the patient resting on the leg section of the table and the leg section pivoted upwardly from the seat section, it may be desirable to move the leg section downwardly into alignment with the seat section without altering the position of the seat section relative to a support member for supporting the table top. During a typical operation, this realignment of a portion of the table top is complicated by the provision of a draping extending over the patient and downwardly over the sides of the table such that the relative orientation of the table top sections cannot be readily observed without lifting the draping.
Accordingly, there is a need for an articulated surgical table having an actuator and control system which permits the table to be easily manipulated to desired positions while minimizing the level of operator input required.